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2006 Mac Pro Processor Upgrade Options

R

raeshao

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 4, 2010
3
0
After searching the site for an hour, I'll just ask the question directly. What are the processors worth looking at that will swap into a first gen Mac Pro?

I'm adding RAM and faster hard drives, as well as at least an ATI HD5770. Possibly even a SSD boot drive. That said, I originally bought this mac with the thought of swapping processors at some point, turning the ol' 2.66GHz quad into an octo. I know the clovertown chips will swap in, but my research hasn't moved past that. Will any Xeon that fits into a LGA 771 socket work? And if so, where are the sweet spots?

Anyone who has upgraded their 2006 vintage Mac Pros feel free to post some specs or ideas as well as bench scores. Thanks!
 
Xeon X5365 (3.0GHz quad core) and XXeon 5355 (2.66GHz quad core) are the only ones really worth considering.
 
Upgrading to 5160 (dual 3.0) is good for practice. 12,5 % difference won't make it fast, but it's very cheap and you gain experience. I got a good deal some time ago, a pair of 5160s for 100 €, and sold the pair of 5150s for the same 100 €.
 
Umbongo said:
Xeon X5365 (3.0GHz quad core) and XXeon 5355 (2.66GHz quad core) are the only ones really worth considering.
Click to expand...

Will these work perfectly or are there any side effects? In particular, will bootcamp and windows 7 work in exactly the same way. I'd love to upgrade my processors but it would be a nightmare if I some things didn't work anymore.

I thought the original Mac Pros with these processors in had different firmware. Is that the case?

Another question, can you put a single X5355 processor in next to an original dual core 2.66GHz processor. Alternately, can you put a single X5355 processor in and take both the original 2.66 processors out (I'm only asking this because Windows will only use one processor so it would be better if it was a quad core processor).
 
lloyd709 said:
Will these work perfectly or are there any side effects? In particular, will bootcamp and windows 7 work in exactly the same way. I'd love to upgrade my processors but it would be a nightmare if I some things didn't work anymore.
Click to expand...

Apple offered two X5365s as an option in 2007, so yes, they will work fine. So do X5355s.

I thought the original Mac Pros with these processors in had different firmware. Is that the case?
Click to expand...

Since people have upgraded their 1,1 Mac Pros with these CPUs they should carry the same firmware (or an update was released).

Another question, can you put a single X5355 processor in next to an original dual core 2.66GHz processor.
Click to expand...

No. Both CPUs have to be the same

Alternately, can you put a single X5355 processor in and take both the original 2.66 processors out (I'm only asking this because Windows will only use one processor so it would be better if it was a quad core processor).
Click to expand...

Yes, but the gain would be little (you currently have 4 cores). How would Windows use only one CPU? AFAIK both CPUs and all 8 cores are utilized
 
Hellhammer said:
How would Windows use only one CPU? AFAIK both CPUs and all 8 cores are utilized
Click to expand...

Many thanks for you answers. But regarding Windows use of multiple cores I'm only going by what I can see.

Resource Monitor shows two CPUs in action but there doesn't seem to be a way to show what's going on for each core.

I downloaded a program called System Monitor II that claims to show all cores but it only show two cores being used so I assumed that Resource Monitor was in fact only showing the cores of one of the processors.

Also the System Properties says: 'Processor: Intel(R)Xeon(R) CPU'. I would have thought that it would state 2 processors here if it was using/seeing them.

Do you know of a way I can check for sure how many cores are being used?
 
lloyd709 said:
Many thanks for you answers. But regarding Windows use of multiple cores I'm only going by what I can see.

Resource Monitor shows two CPUs in action but there doesn't seem to be a way to show what's going on for each core.

I downloaded a program called System Monitor II that claims to show all cores but it only show two cores being used so I assumed that Resource Monitor was in fact only showing the cores of one of the processors.

Also the System Properties says: 'Processor: Intel(R)Xeon(R) CPU'. I would have thought that it would state 2 processors here if it was using/seeing them.

Do you know of a way I can check for sure how many cores are being used?
Click to expand...

Try CPU-Z and see if it can recognize both CPUs.
 
Update on my last post regarding Windows use of only one processor.

I've just downloaded something called CPU-Z which quite clearly shows only one processor with 2 cores being used!

Is there something wrong with my system - both processors are being used under OSX
 
lloyd709 said:
Update on my last post regarding Windows use of only one processor.

I've just downloaded something called CPU-Z which quite clearly shows only one processor with 2 cores being used!

Is there something wrong with my system - both processors are being used under OSX
Click to expand...

You might want to check out this and this.
 
lloyd709 said:
Update on my last post regarding Windows use of only one processor.

I've just downloaded something called CPU-Z which quite clearly shows only one processor with 2 cores being used!

Is there something wrong with my system - both processors are being used under OSX
Click to expand...

Can you change the CPU (see the attachment)? BTW, what version of Windows are you using? At least Starter and Home basic versions of Vista and 7 only support ONE physical CPU.
 

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Hellhammer said:
Can you change the CPU (see the attachment)? BTW, what version of Windows are you using? At least Starter and Home basic versions of Vista and 7 only support ONE physical CPU.
Click to expand...

I can't change the option at the bottom on CPU-Z. I just also ran Cinebench under both Windows 7 and OSX and it reports 2 processors (4 cores) under OSx and only 1 processor (2 cores) under Windows 7.

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium. I would guess this is the problem - what do you think?

The only reason I'm really worried about it is because I'm thinking about buying another 5770 to run 2 under cross fire and I don't want the graphics to become CPU bound.
 
Just found this on Microsofts website:

'Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate allow for two physical processors, providing the best performance on these computers. Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium will recognize only one physical processor.'

That be the problem then!!!
 
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